Redressing Social Disparities to Optimize Black Adolescents’ Well-Being

Internal

A key feature of a society entrenched in racism is internalized racism, or the process of Black adolescents internalizing negative stereotypes about Black communities (David et al., 2019). Prior research shows that internalized racism may pose a threat to Black adolescents’ psychosocial and emotional development (Bailey et al., 2017). For example, Black adolescents who hold more internalized racism reported less optimal racial identity, self-esteem (Chavis & Johnson, 2023), and externalizing symptoms (Reck et al., 2024). Particularly, a higher level of self-hatred increased Black adolescents’ likelihood of experiencing depression (Seaton et al., 2022). Exploring ways that Black adolescents can safeguard their sense of self, then, is critical for a more mentally sound population.

Individual and Interpersonal

Youth at the later or extended stage of adolescence may spend the majority of their time in educational or employment spaces. Discriminatory encounters in school, whether in a high school or on a collegiate campus, are often perpetrated by school staff or peers. Greater discrimination from school personnel and peers is associated with worsened academic performance and psychological adjustment, respectively (Benner & Graham, 2013). In employment settings, while jobs may create barriers to entry given explicit or implicit hiring practices (McLoyd & Hallman, 2020), interpersonal dynamics once employed may also be impacted. Relationships that are contingent on power dynamics, especially through the lens of race, may contribute to lower self-esteem and employment performance for Black adolescents as they navigate entry-level positions (Carnevale et al., 2022).

Structural

Black adolescents navigate structural barriers within institutions and systems such as education, housing, and justice, with inequities in one system reinforcing disparities in psychological outcomes in other sectors. Notably, inequitable and under-resourced education systems (Darling-Hammond, 2010), inequitable administration of justice (e.g., school-based discipline; Okonofua & Eberhardt, 2015), and discriminatory housing practices (Riina et al., 2013) have disproportionately impacted Black adolescents. For example, Black students are more likely to attend under-resourced schools (Darling-Hammond, 2010) and be suspended from school than their White counterparts (Losen & Martinez, 2013), contributing to academic disruption, reduced employment opportunities, and more contact with local authorities. Beyond education and justice, discriminatory housing practices result in Black adolescents being more likely to live in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with greater exposure to environmental risks and less access to quality healthcare, education, and other necessary supports (Williams & Collins, 2001). These structures are critical in shaping access to education, quality housing, and distribution of justice and are rooted in a system that determines outcomes for Black adolescents based on their racial background.

Schooling. Education is a critical site of structural racism. The U.S. has a history of discriminatory practices against Black communities, spanning from the establishment of anti-literacy laws during slavery through the establishment of inequitable funding of schools in segregated Black neighborhoods established by Plessy v. Ferguson in the late nineteenth century (Ashford-Hanserd et al., 2020). Despite historic advancements in education through the Civil Rights Movement, disparities persist in equitable funding of urban and public schools and quality of education for Black adolescents (Ashford-Hanserd et al., 2020). School districts with higher enrollment of students of color and lower household income receive less funding, compared to schools with predominantly White and affluent enrollment backgrounds (Morgan, 2022), compromising the quality of education. Given unequal funding, schools that teach Black students often operate under resource constraints, reducing their educational offerings. As a result, Black students are less likely to have access to college-ready courses, advanced placement courses, and gifted and talented programs, which may create barriers in post-secondary education (Thiem & Dasgupta, 2022). Today, Black students increasingly pursue post-secondary education across generations (Espinosa et al., 2019); therefore, structural support prior to post-secondary education is necessary.

Housing. Segregated and inequitable housing comprises another form of structural racism that negatively shapes Black adolescents' trajectories. That is, despite the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964, various housing practices and factors, such as redlining and gentrification, are part and parcel of structural racism (Riina et al., 2013). Compared with White youth, Black adolescents are more likely to live below the poverty line and reside in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty (Heard-Garris et al., 2021). Black adolescents are vulnerable to precarious living conditions, such as structurally unsafe buildings, including substandard insulation and air filtration (Cotton & Shim, 2022). Even Black adolescents themselves recognize stark distinctions in the living environments of Black and White individuals, naming hazardous neighborhood environmental features that Black families live under, such as violence and toxic exposures (Teixeira & Zuberi, 2016). Neighborhood disadvantage and poverty contribute to Black youth's anticipation of racial discrimination (Witherspoon et al., 2016) and psychological stress (Cotton & Shim, 2022). The impact on stress has been documented via higher cortisol reactivity and greater perceptions of stress levels (Mennis et al., 2016). Specifically, the level of deprivation of a neighborhood predicted Black adolescents' worse nutrition a year later (Volpe et al., 2025). The consequences of poor neighborhood conditions for Black adolescents also extend to mental health problems, substance use, and unsafe sexual behaviors (Voisin & Kim, 2018). Together, addressing structural racism in housing is a necessary step to improve the quality of life for Black adolescents.

Justice. The act of policing was established in the U.S. in the early 1700s to monitor behaviors of the enslaved and capture those who ran away and was formalized into police departments in the mid-nineteenth century (Vitale, 2017). The criminal justice system continues to function as an institution that disadvantages Black communities, specifically Black adolescents (Alexander, 2010). Black youth have been overrepresented in the juvenile justice system in terms of racial disproportionality and racial disparity (Abrams et al., 2021). The overrepresentation of Black youth occurs at various stages of the juvenile justice system, including being referred to juvenile court, being sentenced to wardship, having petitions filed against them by prosecutors, and having more aggressive contact with police (Abrams et al., 2021).

Further, Black adolescents report greater police exposure and discrimination, with racial disparities in juvenile justice involvement persisting even after accounting for criminal or delinquent behaviors (Jindal et al., 2022). As this review demonstrated, Black youth who experience higher levels of police exposure report negative mental health, sexual risk behaviors, and substance use (Jindal et al., 2022). Further, Black adolescent boys who experienced police stops more frequently demonstrated higher levels of delinquent behavior 6, 12, and 18 months later (Del Toro et al., 2019). Beyond health, police discrimination also leads to worse academic outcomes (Zeiders et al., 2021). Further, police abuse was correlated with lower public regard beliefs (negative perceptions of how others perceive Black people; Jackson et al., 2020). When Black adolescents experience vicarious discrimination (i.e., exposure to police killings of Black people), they have lower self-esteem and self-efficacy (Lee & Vogel, 2025). Experiences with policing damage Black youth's psychosocial well-being, thus, to transform the lived experiences of Black youth, we must rectify the discriminatory criminal justice system.

Cultural Programs

An effective method to combat internalized racism and nurture positive racial identity for Black youth is cultural socialization (David et al., 2019), or promoting cultural recovery and empowerment. Programs seeking to enhance cultural socialization for Black adolescents play a significant role and should receive financial and political support at federal, state, and local levels (Bailey et al., 2017). For example, community spaces can incorporate healing techniques such as storying survival, which uses stories to promote liberation from racial trauma and, in turn, unlearn internalized racial oppression (McNeil-Young et al., 2023). With an eye toward long-term outcomes, cultural organizations can develop workshops to integrate African American English Vernacular to support Black youth's learning, and support Historically Black Colleges and Universities in training future educators (Iruka et al., 2021). Finally, to combat internalized racism, fighting back against legislative efforts to disempower cultural organizations is necessary. For instance, activism is a means for Black youth to build communities, develop strong identities, and resist racism (Hope et al., 2019), so efforts to stigmatize activism, such as legislation that strips the tax-exempt status of organizations allegedly associated with terrorism (Beaty & Amiri, 2024) sets a dangerous precedent and must be reversed.

Critical History Education

Educational spaces should engage Black adolescents in critical history (i.e., narratives of the U.S. history that attend to the different ways racism and intersecting axes of oppression function and are maintained), via curriculum changes, after-school programs, and workshops. Although schooling is a structural issue, the inclusion of critical histories in classrooms, districts, and institutions in the K-12 system can serve as an identity-safety cue to boost Black adolescents' sense of belonging from an early age (Salter et al., 2024). A critical history of the U.S. affords Black youth an opportunity to engage in counter-narratives (i.e., narratives that challenge negative stereotypes and cultural beliefs about Black communities) and engage in civic activities to promote equity in their communities (Pham & Garr-Schultz, in press). Critical history is particularly relevant when it comes to promoting Black History Month celebrations in schools, which serve as spaces for Black adolescents to collectively recall memories of resilience and resistance associated with Black communities (Selvanathan & Salter, 2025). Indeed, knowledge of Black history helps increase racial identity, self-esteem, and academic performance for Black adolescents (Adams-Bass & Chapman-Hilliard, 2021). Educators and policymakers can draw inspiration from previous efforts such as the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools, which incorporate critical consciousness and civic engagement skills into pedagogical practices and curricula (Jackson & Howard, 2014), and push back against additional federal government communications regarding consequences for schools supporting diversity efforts.

Free Therapeutic Services

As a fundamental policy contribution, free therapy and assessments must be provided for Black adolescents. In direct response to Secretaries Kennedy Jr. and McMahon's editorial that schools should eliminate mental health screenings and therapeutic services (McMahon & Kennedy, 2025), policymakers must counteract these unsupported suggestions with expanded ways to serve youth. In the United Kingdom, for instance, free access to therapy is provided by the National Health Service, a service that does not require referral nor diagnosis. Universal screenings should be conducted for adolescents in school-based settings and referred to local providers to ensure a cradle-to-community catchment area for Black adolescents.

Children's Health Insurance Program

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides low- and middle-income children and families with opportunities to access no- or low-cost health services. With approximately 10 million children enrolled, the federal government has acknowledged the importance of serving children who are at-risk for health-related challenges without intervention. It will be crucial, then, to demonstrate how Black children would benefit from some of the safeguards of CHIP, including the potential for unlimited sessions and coverage until the age of 19, along with amendments that may make it more plausible to get needed care (e.g., treatment across state lines; virtual services). Allotting opportunities for families to engage in the uptake of these services, regardless of income, incarceration, or psychiatric status (see CHIP Eligibility & Enrollment, Medicaid, n.d.), would especially benefit Black adolescents.

Family-Based Services

Including families with the care of Black adolescents is crucial for the uptake and success of mental health strategies. In New York, for example, the Care, Community, Action report (New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2023) signifies two critical strategies for parental involvement: stigma reduction and psychoeducation. For Black families, the longstanding and historically grounded distrust in mental health service providers and the resulting stigma in seeking services have resulted in disparities in service use. Meeting families where they are, both in service-related beliefs and location, and having opportunities to engage in open dialogue about the importance of mental health care for Black populations can improve the uptake of services for minors. Additionally, parent-based programs that target parental stressors, understanding mental health conditions, and treatment options have shown positive youth outcomes (Sander & McCarty, 2005). Finally, unrestricting and increasing funding for family-based programs that consider culturally relevant issues such as racism and historical resistance (Anderson et al., 2018) are critical for Black adolescent outcomes.

Local Community Engaged Initiatives

As Black adolescents navigate their local communities, they are exposed to inhibiting and promoting factors that impact their psychosocial outcomes. When community members come together to support Black adolescents, youth are more protected against risk factors, yielding better well-being (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Several organizations engage in these holistic efforts, including Harlem Children's Zone and Village of Wisdom, both exemplifying the adage “it takes a village to raise a child”. Organizations like these uplift community-based and racially affirming strategies in their respective regions. We recommend appropriating funds to both rigorously study and maintain a best practices repository for these and other programs—such as the now defunded Promise Neighborhoods initiative of the Department of Education—to ensure that practitioners and politicians can access useful strategies to defend against racial adversity and general strife for Black adolescents.

High School and University Programs

To address the structural barriers to adequate K-12 education, increased funding for schools that serve predominantly Black students is needed. Current funding structures provide less funding for communities of color, leading to a lack of necessary resources for Black children. Improving access to and the quality of college preparatory courses and standardizing testing courses are key strategies. Given that socioeconomic status affects access to post-secondary education, we recommend expanding tuition-free programs for families below a specific household income. For example, some private colleges such as Emory University and Harvard University have implemented tuition-free enrollment for students from households with less than $200,000 in income, and some public institutions such as the New Jersey state university system and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are implementing the same guarantee for households making less than $65,000 and $80,000, respectively. At a time when the cost of post-secondary education is rising, these tuition-free programs can expand access to Black students by decreasing socioeconomic barriers to college (Martínez et al., 2025).

Improved Support in Post-Secondary Education Spaces for Black Adolescents

While expanding tuition-free programs paves the way for increased enrollment of Black students, support for enrolled Black students is critical for retention through degree completion. For example, programs that incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across institutions can retain Black students and contribute positively to graduation rates (Garces, 2012). These programs range from identity support centers (e.g., Black cultural and multicultural centers), diverse faculty and staff hiring and retention efforts, and culturally relevant curricula. Therefore, expanding DEI policies and programs and reversing newly enacted legislation restricting DEI to redress the harm on Black youth throughout college is recommended.

Housing Reparations and Integration for Black Families

Redressing the racial harms inflicted on Black families must include housing reparatory grants and addressing homelessness for Black adolescents. In 2021, the city of Evanston, Illinois implemented a reparations program for Black residents after community-driven work led by the Shorefront Legacy Center documented the history of racialized harm throughout the city. Evanston's reparations program provides up to $25,000 in financial support for housing-related costs such as down payments, home repairs, and mortgages. Detroit, similarly, has a Home Ownership Reparative Transfer (HORT) program, which provides $25,000 to aspiring Black homeowners. HORT, moreover, infuses an interpersonal dynamic with the monetary transfer, helping Black and White residents better understand racial legacies, tensions, and dynamics that impact home ownership and wealth at the outset. Finally, if residential segregation puts Black adolescents at a disadvantage for quality-of-life outcomes, then residential integration programs, such as Moving to Opportunity, can help to reverse those trends. Specifically, for youth before the age of 13, moving to a lower-poverty neighborhood increased the likelihood of college attendance and higher adult earnings (Gennetian et al., 2012). Having specificity for this policy recommendation is crucial given the social disruption that may damage Black adolescent boys’ outcomes.

Justice-Oriented Programs

Considering the history of the justice system in harming Black communities and the disparities for Black adolescents in school discipline, programs should promote justice for Black adolescents. Diversion programs (i.e., programs that provide alternatives to the criminal juvenile justice system) demonstrably reduce school-based arrests and recidivism among Black youth (e.g., Mendel, 2023). Additionally, school discipline reform programs, such as restorative justice practices following suspensions, trauma-informed practices, and reassessment of district suspension, offer promising paths for disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline (Mendel, 2023). Going beyond school-level reforms, transforming the juvenile justice system via an abolitionist framework (i.e., replacing carceral systems such as policing and imprisonment with systems of care) is warranted (Washington et al., 2021). For instance, optimal rehabilitation, healing, and accountability should be prioritized over punitive responses in several initiatives on both state and local levels, such as California's Office of Youth and Community Restoration and New York's Close to Home program (Less Restrictive Programs: Considerations and Possibilities, 2024).